- MILETICH VS. GRACIE IN IFL

by Jeff Cain – MMAWeekly.com
After a four-year absence, Pat Miletich will be returning to MMA competition to take on Renzo Gracie in the International Fight League. Miletich spoke with MMAWeekly over the weekend about his return to fighting.

This year has seen the return of several MMA legends. Frank Shamrock fought for the Strikeforce promotion in March, Bas Rutten will be fighting on a WFA card in July, Royce Gracie returned to the UFC, Keith Hackney is rumored to have been cast on the currently-filming Ultimate Fighter 4, and now Pat Miletich will make his return by fighting in the IFL.

It has been rumored for some time that Miletich was going to fight again. We just didn’t know when, where, or against whom. Bas Rutten let the cat out of the bag on MMAWeekly Radio, and Pat Miletich confirmed it to MMAWeekly over the weekend.

Pat Miletich told MMAWeekly, “Renzo and I are going to fight. I think they’re going to be making the announcement on the IFL [show on] June 3rd… where it’s going to be, and what date. We’re excited. Renzo and I get along very well. We’ve known each other for a lot of years, but we recognize we can have a lot of fun, put on a good show for the crowd, make some money at the same time, and help the IFL along. It’s very exciting.”

Miletich has a 28-6-2 professional MMA record, which includes becoming the UFC’s first 170-pound champion by defeating Mikey Burnett at the UFC’s “Ultimate Brazil” event in 1998.

After losing the title to Carlos Newton in 2001, Miletich moved up to the middleweight division, where he lost to Matt Lindland in March of 2002. Miletich has not fought since then, in part due to a variety of injuries that have healed over time.